


a legacy of love for you

by jacobperalta



Series: family comes first [2]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Aca-child, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Pitch Perfect 3, aca-moms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacobperalta/pseuds/jacobperalta
Summary: 5 more moments where Beca and Chloe fully embrace that they're basically Emily's moms. They love it.
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Series: family comes first [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058483
Comments: 15
Kudos: 146





	a legacy of love for you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I wasn't actually planning on making a part 2 to my fic with Emily but after seeing a lot of your comments asking for a part 2, I thought I'd do one! I love this little universe that I've created and tried to make it work in pitch perfect 3! It's a bit different than my part 1 but I hope you guys still like it, I'm pretty proud of it. Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own pitch perfect or any of the characters

**I.**

Beca had been living in New York for two years now. She had a studio apartment that she shared with Chloe and Amy (although Amy wasn’t there quite often) and she was proud to announce that she had just quit her job. She was proud of herself because while she loved being a music producer, she wanted clients that would _actually_ listen to her since she knew what she was doing. 

And Chloe seemed okay with her quitting her job too. Money was going to be tight for a while but it’d be okay. Beca was used to things getting worse before they turned better, that’s the way it always worked for them. 

But she had to admit that thinking she was going to sing with the Bellas again only for Emily to tell them that they were only invited to _watch_ was another blow to the stomach. She hadn’t been as intense about it as Chloe who had worn the Bella uniform underneath her scrubs all day but she had been excited for it nonetheless. She had missed the Bellas a lot. 

She lived with Chloe and Amy which meant her living situation remained loud and messy but she missed the true chaos that came from living with 9 other girls. She missed Cynthia-Rose’s coffee in the morning, she missed Jessica playing the piano from time to time and she missed Flo’s cookies. She missed the constant noise and the complaining and the arguing and the singing, she missed it all. She was working hard towards her dream like she always did but a big part of her was hung up on the past. On the way it felt to perform in front of people with her girls by her side. 

Still, as she watched the new Bellas, she felt conflicted. It was bittersweet because a part of her could still see herself out there with them but she also quite liked the new perspective she gained. For the first time, she saw what they looked like performing and she knew that Chloe and her had left the Bellas in safe hands when they graduated. 

She looked at Emily with pride. In the year they were with her, the girl had grown so much and it seemed that she only kept getting better with the years. Even if the Bellas were a team, it was clear that Emily was their _leader_ and Beca liked to think Chloe and her helped with that. 

They really didn’t see her as much as they hoped to since they both had to work to pay the bills so last time they had seen Emily had been for a weekend about 6 months ago and it had not been enough. A weekend was nothing considering they remembered what it was like to live in the same house together. 

Beca wouldn’t admit it out loud (she didn’t have to, Chloe and Emily both already knew) but she missed those quiet nights she spent with them. Sometimes, they’d just be doing their school work without talking but to be able to look up and see Chloe help Emily memorize her memo cards was enough to fill her heart with joy. They facetimed a lot but it wasn’t the same. The most embarrassing thing was that it made Beca sad to think she had lost her importance in Emily’s life over the years. 

She heard Chloe sniffle next to her and she turned to see her girlfriend on the verge of tears. Beca’s eyes widened and she put her hand on Chloe’s back who turned to her. 

“I just can’t believe she’s the captain of the Bellas now. I mean, I knew but I had never seen it, you know?” 

Beca nodded because she understood what she was saying. It was surreal. She still remembered Chloe sending her a text about they had just let a “legacy” in the Bellas and her wondering what the fuck a legacy meant in acapella. It was only two years ago but it felt like a lifetime had passed. 

“You aca-parents okay?” Stacie said teasingly, sticking her head between Chloe and Beca’s and the latter nudged her with her elbow to make her shut up. 

At the end of the performance, Emily waved at them but it only made her feel that much older so she followed the rest of the Bellas to the bar. They all seemed to be feeling pretty bummed about the fact that they weren’t going to perform together. She sat between Cynthia-Rose and Aubrey and accepted the beer that Lilly handed her. 

“This sucks,” Jessica said and everyone nodded in approval. 

“You know we could just start singing right now. Lilly could lay down a beat,” Stacie suggested and Beca swirled the beer in her hand. 

“We already look like the B team Bellas, I say we cut our losses.” 

“You guys!” Emily said, running to the bar and Chloe straightened up in her seat, a sad smile on her face. “You guys, I am so sorry. I realize I should not have used the word reunion. I should have said that it was an excuse to see each other. I really didn’t think that out, I’m sorry.” 

Chloe was nodding along to what Emily was saying but Beca could see how devastated she was. Chloe was probably the one who had been the most excited for this. 

“No, no, no. You guys were so great and this was a really nice change for us to get together. Right, ladies?” 

Everyone spoke at the same time, pretending that it was indeed nice with half-hearted smiles and Beca felt her heart drop in her chest. She made eye contact with Chloe who pouted at her and Beca nodded in understanding. 

They both felt shitty about this but to make Emily feel bad about this misunderstanding was not their goal. It wasn’t her fault. Emily was just impulsive and didn’t really think things through before doing them which was another trait that made her very similar to Chloe.

“It was really great. Thank you so much,” Aubrey said in a clearly fake voice, taking a sip of her martini. 

“I was supposed to go to my brother’s wedding. But this is nice too.” 

Emily ducked her head in embarrassment and Beca knew Chloe noticed it too because she raised her glass in the air to distract the group. 

“Bellas, a toast.” 

Everyone perked up instantly and Beca smiled, holding her beer in the air but her face quickly fell when she noticed the dazed look in her girlfriend’s eyes. Oh no. How did Chloe get so tipsy so fast? A tipsy Chloe was an emotional Chloe and that was a slightly terrifying sight to see. 

“To the most amazing group of women I have ever known,” she said in a shaky voice and Beca thought it hadn’t been too bad until she continued to talk. “I would do _anything_ to sing with you guys again. Anything! I mean, really I could just crap myself.” 

Beca winced. Yikes. She looked at her girlfriend took another gulp of her drink as the Bellas all awkwardly said “cheers”.

“You okay, babe?” she said and Chloe just shrugged while downing her drink. Emily was next to her and looked at Beca with a “ _should we do something?_ ” look that smaller girl honestly didn’t know how to answer.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Aubrey said. “I’m having a crazy idea. Okay, I’ve mentioned that my dad is in the Army and basically killed Osama Bin Laden, right?”

Beca nearly choked on her sip. “Some new information in that sentence but okay.” 

“Well, what I mean is, he’s kind of a big deal in the Army and every year the USO puts on this performance to entertain and support the troops and this year, DJ Khaled is hosting. He’s got like a gazillion hit songs and he’s super famous. I saw him in a tax commercial.” 

The Bellas all gasped dramatically and Beca turned to her girlfriend to make fun of the group’s reaction but she saw that Chloe had the same look of awe in her eyes. Of course. 

“What if I could get us an invite?”

Chloe looked at Aubrey with her big blues eyes and leaned in a little. “To sing? she slurred. Beca reached across Aubrey to grab Chloe’s glass. Her girlfriend had had enough to drink for the night. 

“No, to run military dark ops,” Aubrey said and they all paused. “Of course to sing!”

“Is there a competition? There should always be a competition,” Chloe said in a very serious tone. 

“Oh um well no but let’s sing together again. Who’s with me?” 

Everyone raised their drinks in the air and Beca frowned when she saw the beer in Chloe’s hand. When did she get that? The girl in question stuck her tongue out at Beca like she had caught on to her girlfriend’s plan to stop her from drinking and then turned to Aubrey. 

“Me!”

That meant she was in too. “Well, I suddenly have a lot of free time so hell yeah,” she said nervously and Chloe gave her a reassuring smile. 

After learning the shocking news that Stacie was 8 months pregnant, Beca turned to Emily happily. “Well, that means you’re in, kid!”

“Oh yeah, I’m in for sure!” she said and then paused. “Was I not always in?”

“Of course you were!” Chloe instantly said, putting a hand on her shoulder and chastising Beca with her eyes.

A little after that, everything got back to normal pretty quickly. Even though they hadn’t all been together in the same room in years, the Bellas had a habit of making themselves comfortable pretty much anywhere. So they somehow got control of the radio that played and started talking loudly over one another. 

Even if she had been thinking about how she missed the energy these girls had, it was actually giving Beca kind of a headache now. So she walked to a corner of the room with her third beer of the night and decided to observe the group to give herself a chance to breathe. Chloe was having a pretty emotional conversation with Aubrey from the looks of it because she went from sad to overly happy back and forth without a middle ground. 

Emily walked up to her and sat down quietly in the chair next to her. They stayed silent for a moment and Beca wondered if this was the moment she realized she had truly lost her bond with Emily. That it was going to be awkward between them again. She was 24 now and obviously still not ready to be a mother but she kind of liked the idea of Emily needing her in a motherly way. The thought of Emily not thinking about her that way saddened her. 

“Is Mom okay?” Emily asked with a smile. Beca instantly felt a weight lifted off her shoulder. 

After the “love you moms” accident, it was no surprise that it became a thing. So from time to time, Emily would joke and call them mom to join the others who made sure to keep beating that dead joke long after it stopped being funny. 

Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure if they did mean it as a joke. Chloe and her did act like moms a lot. Maybe they were for real. 

Anyways, Emily calling Chloe “Mom” meant things were not too bad between them. 

“Well you know how she is when she’s drunk, she gets pretty emotional. Plus, the reunion non-reunion is making her even more emotional so it’s like, even more intense right now.” 

Chloe burst into a loud laughter that instantly turned into sobs and Aubrey took her in her arms instantly. Beca would be more concerned if she didn’t know the redhead could literally be sobbing about puppies right now. She took a sip of her beer, smiling at her lover of 5 years. 

“I missed this.”

“Chloe crying?” Beca asked with a snort.  
  
Emily chuckled. “All of it. Even Chloe crying.”

“You should come to the apartment more often, she still does lots of it. Last night, she cried at a car commercial. It was just about a family going on this camping trip, it wasn’t even sad.”

“I really should,” the senior said after laughing. “I’m just so busy all the time.”

Beca nodded, officially tearing off her attention from her girlfriend to look at the girl sitting with her. She remembered her senior year and how hectic it had been. Captain of the Bellas, exams and an internship were hard to juggle and she couldn’t even imagine how Emily was doing being the sole captain of the team. She seemed to have a less chaotic group to manage, though.

“Yeah, I get that, trust me. You still have time for songwriting though, right?”

Emily went silent. 

“Don’t tell me you’re not writing anymore.”

“Well, not… I mean, not right now,” Emily said, playing with the drink in her hands. “I’ve got 21 credits that I’m taking this semester. The GRE is coming up, it’s right around the corner. Oh and I got a hamster now.” 

Beca scoffed with a laugh at the last information that Emily threw in there. “Finally got the hamster, huh?”

The girl had proposed for the Bellas to get a pet during her freshman year as a way to make the team bond again but Chloe and Beca had categorically refused. They had trouble making 10 women survive in a house together, there was no way they could keep a small animal alive. 

“Yeah,” Emily breathed out. “Things are less chaotic in the house than they were when you guys were there. I figured I’d get one finally.”

“So no Fat Amy sliding down the stairs and making a hole in the wall anymore? That sounds boring.” 

Emily shook her head laughing. Beca remembered what they had started talking about and frowned. 

“But you’re seriously not writing anymore? Dude.” Emily shrugged in response and Beca put her beer down to put her hand on top of the girl’s. “You have a real talent here. I’m serious. You can’t underestimate yourself.”

“I’m not! I’m just--” 

“There’s always going to be a million excuses, kid. Your song is the thing that made us win Worlds. You know that, right?” Emily sank her teeth into her lower lip without answering. “You need to keep writing. And look I might not technically have a job anymore but when I do find one again, I’ll invite you to record another song.”

Emily lit up. “Really?”

“Hell yeah. But for that you need to keep writing songs. For every song you write, I’ll produce it,” Beca tilted her head and finished her sentence. “Well, when I get a job again.” 

“Oh my stars, that would be awesome.” 

“I mean, producing Flashlight was fun, right?”

Emily had a smile that split her face in half. “It was the best.”

Even though it was a while ago, Beca still remembered that day in the studio well. It was the day that she finally got her inspiration back not only for the Bellas, but for herself as a music producer.

“So you’re gonna keep writing songs so your life isn’t filled with crushing regret?”

“Yes,” Emily said, nodding enthusiastically. They both got up at the same time to hug and it had always been a little awkward to hug her because of the height difference but they found a way to make it work. 

“Thanks, Bec.” Emily said in her neck. 

“You’re welcome, kid.” 

They suddenly felt strong arms around them and they looked at Chloe that had a smile that split in half on her face. 

“Family hug!” she shouted in their ears and bounced a little. Beca and Emily looked at each other and unwrapped themselves from each other so Chloe could join their hug properly. 

“Family hug!” Emily said just as happily and Beca looked at the two girls that she loved so much. She had missed this feeling so much and she was glad they were going to get it back for the USO tour. 

“Family hug.” 

**II.**

Chloe didn’t understand why Beca seemed so annoyed at her. 

They had been all over Europe in the past few days now and it seemed like every time they would come back from hanging out with the troops, Beca would shut her out. After 5 years of being together, Chloe assumed she knew Beca’s body language to perfection by now but it seems that her angsty girlfriend still managed to keep some things from her.

They had just come back from exploring a part of Rome with Chicago and Zeke and they had another visit planned later in the afternoon before their show in front of the troop tonight.   
  


They were all hanging out in Chloe and Beca’s hotel room during their free time, all of them sprawled across the room in different positions, some on the floor, some on the bed. Jessica and Ashley were resting their heads on Beca’s suitcase that had clothes overflowing out of it in the middle of the room. Aubrey was the only one that was sitting properly on a chair with her back completely straight. Beca was on the bed with Chloe but they were on opposite corners and the music producer seemed to be intentionally ignoring her eye contacts. 

“I’m bored,” Fat Amy said for the ninth time. 

“Me too,” Cynthia-Rose answered for the ninth time again. 

Chloe had her back against the headboard and Emily’s head on her lap and the older girl was stroking her hair, her eyes still focused on Beca. The girl was breathing steadily on her thighs and she was pretty sure she was asleep. She continued her movements, making sure not to change the rhythm to disturb the young girl. She had missed these little moments and it felt so nice to spend that much time with her girls again. 

“We could go swimming?” Jessica said and a few people groaned so she pouted. Ashley patted her back to comfort her. 

“We could just walk around?”

“Exercise? Are you insane?” Amy said in an offended tone, like she couldn’t believe Flo would even suggest that. 

Beca had been silent for a while, focused on eating her sour worms like it was the most interesting in the world. 

Emily spoke up and it startled Chloe since she thought she was asleep. “We could go for gelato? I saw a place down the street from the hotel.”

Everyone seemed to perk up at the idea, even Amy smiled. “I can’t believe a half-decent idea just came out of your dumb mouth!”

Beca looked up from her lap to glare at Amy in a protective way that made Chloe smile. Emily straightened up and the redhead suddenly remembered what the youngest of the group was supposed to be doing right now. 

“Excuse me missy, you told me you’d start studying for your abnormal psych exam after we came back from this morning’s activity.”

Emily’s shoulders slumped. “I can just do it after we get gelato.”

“Nope,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “You promised me that if you came here, you wouldn’t get behind on your school work.”

“But we’re in Italy!”

“And you’re still in college! So you’re gonna keep studying to make sure you have good grades.”

“But I worked on it on the plane!”

“That was days ago and besides, you were right next to me. Do you think I didn’t notice you playing a game on Beca’s phone the whole time?”

“I wanna hang out with you guys! It was my idea to get gelatos and I want some.”

“We’ll get someone to bring you some back.”

“I’ll bring you some, kid. Chocolate, right?”  
  


“See? Beca’s gonna bring you back chocolate gelato. Your favorite.”

“Fine.”

“And you’ll get to hang out with me because I’m gonna stay here with you.” 

“Chloe!”

“Not to supervise you. I’m just tired and don’t feel like getting out of bed.”

“But--”

“No buts!”

Emily opened her mouth again but Fat Amy threw a sour worm at her face. “Listen to your mother, idiot.”

The legacy looked at everyone who was staring at them with an amused smile on their faces. Even Beca’s lips were curled upwards a little at the interaction and Chloe realized what just happened. Sometimes, she did it on purpose for the joke but this time, she hadn’t even meant to fall into her motherly role; it just happened naturally. 

She was transported back to the Bellas’ house and those nights where she would check on Emily every once in a while to make sure she was studying. The house was full of every distraction possible and she wanted to make sure the girl didn’t end up in college for 7 years like her. She could still hear the echo in her mind like it was happening right now. 

_“Em, you’re still doing good?”_

_“Yes, mom! Jesus!”_

_“Babe, leave the girl alone for fuck’s sake. You’re the distraction, not the others.”_

Emily pouted slightly and leaned her head on the headboard next to Chloe’s shoulders. “She’s not even my mom,” she mumbled and everyone except the former captains gasped dramatically. 

“You take that back!”

“Be nice to your aca-moms.”

“They get so disrespectful once they grow up.” 

“This is why I’ve always hated her.” 

Aubrey looked at them with a confused smile. “What is happening?”

“Emily is Beca and Chloe’s aca child,” Flo explained as if now it could make sense to Aubrey. 

“Right...“ she said slowly and Chloe mouthed to her best friend that she’d explain every later.

“Alright bitches, we’re getting ice cream or not?” Amy said, getting up. 

“Technically it’s gelato,” Beca corrected as everyone got on their feet to leave. 

Chloe reached over to the night table to grab her phone and propped some pillows up so she could be comfortable. Emily mumbled something about getting her textbooks in her room and coming back. Beca took one last look at her before she walked out. 

“You sure you don’t wanna come?” her girlfriend said, not really making eye contact. She was more looking at a spot next to Chloe’s head instead of her eyes and the redhead felt a tug in her stomach. Why couldn’t Beca talk to her about what was bothering her?

She figured she just needed space. When she's ready, she’ll talk to her. Like always. 

“No it’s okay,” Chloe said, a soft smile on her face to show that she wasn’t mad at Beca even though it seemed like the music producer was mad at her. “Go ahead. Have fun!”

“Okay. See you later,” Beca hesitated before mumbling, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Becs.”

She smiled awkwardly and then followed Cynthia-Rose. The fact that even though Beca was annoyed at her about something but still made sure Chloe knew she loved her told her they were going to be okay and it warmed her heart a little. 

She was lost in thoughts about the whole Beca situation when Emily plopped down next to her on the bed with her textbooks. 

“You okay?”

Chloe turned around in surprise, coming back to reality. “Hm? Oh. Yes, I’m fine.” 

Emily’s eyebrows knit together. “What’s up? Is something wrong?” 

Chloe had never been pretty good at hiding when she was upset and she wasn’t really surprised Emily could tell something was bothering her. After all, she wasn’t Beca or Aubrey but they had spent an awful lot of time together in Emily’s freshman year and she guessed the girl got to know Chloe’s body language just like she did with Emily to make sure she was always fine. 

But she didn’t want Emily to worry about her. 

“Everything’s fine, sweetie. Just get to work.” 

The senior pouted and then looked back at her textbook. Chloe scrolled mindlessly through her phone, ignoring a notification from Chicago that asked her if she wanted to do something later. He was nice and all but she didn’t quite understand the way he looked at her and it kind of freaked her out. 

“You know, I know you like to take care of me or whatever but I’m also there for you,” Emily said after a few minutes of silence, eyes still on her textbook. 

Chloe contemplated it for a second and then sighed, straightening up. “You’re right.”

“Yeah?” Emily turned around to face her like she was surprised Chloe actually agreed with her. 

“Yeah,” Chloe said and then chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t like talking about her relationship problems with Emily who admired them so much but it was true she was a good person to talk to. She knew Beca was kind of private about that stuff but she did need to talk about it before she freaked herself out. The last thing she needed was to overthink this thing and make herself believe Beca was going to break up with her. 

“So what’s happening? Is it Beca?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, a frown on her face. “She’s just been acting weird. Like we’ll be holding hands and taking pictures in front of the Colosseum and then a second later, she’ll shut down.”

“Right,” Emily said, pulling her knees to her chin. “And you don’t know why she does that?”

“No! She’s just distant with me and I don’t know why.”

“Well, you and I both know that’s the way Beca acts when something is bothering her.”

Chloe nodded. “Yes, precisely! But I don’t know what’s hurting her so how can I fix it?”

“You really don’t know?”

“No,” Chloe said, her lips pinched together. 

“Okay,” Emily said and she took Chloe’s hand to force her to look at her. “Try to think about every time she suddenly got cold when you guys were having fun. Do they have something in common?”

She tried to think of what happened this morning. They were in line to get inside the colosseum and everything was going well. Chloe was practically jumping in place, holding Beca’s hand tightly and Beca was talking to her about something she read on the Internet about the landmark the night before. The redhead was listening to her talk when suddenly, Chicago appeared from behind them, interrupted Beca and asked them if they were having fun.

But now that she was thinking about it. He hadn’t asked _them_ if they were having fun, he had asked Chloe. His eyes had stayed on the ginger and had completely ignored the girl who was holding her hand. 

Then, more images of Chicago popping up in front of them flashed in her mind. He always had the same charming smile on, his eyes never leaving Chloe’s. Every single time, Beca’s hand would slip from her grasp and a second later, there would be this space between them.

Chicago had been flirting with her. Even if he clearly knew she was dating Beca. And she had made no attempt to stop it because she hadn’t even noticed it.

“Oh. He’s flirting with me.”

Emily winced, instantly knowing who she was talking about. “Yikes. You hadn’t noticed?”

“No,” Chloe said, thinking about how a lot made sense now. “I mean, I kinda just assumed he was friendly. Like me, you know?”

“Chloe,” Emily said with a sympathetic smile. “No one is as friendly as you are. And since he doesn’t know you like us, he probably assumed you were flirting back.”

Chloe chastised herself. How could she be so oblivious? Of course Beca would get cold if she saw a guy flirting with her girlfriend and she wasn’t doing anything to stop it. She was just disappointed in herself for not doing something about it sooner. 

“God, that’s so stupid of me.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Chloe shrugged. “Oh Beca. She should’ve talked to me.”

“The important thing is that you were not doing it on purpose.”

Chloe’s eyes widened. “Of course I wasn’t. I love her, Em. So much. She’s the love of my life.”

“I know,” Emily said with a sparkle in her eyes. “Anyone with eyes can see you guys are soulmates. But even if you guys have been together for 5 years, I think it’s normal that Beca got a little insecure. Have you seen yourself, Chlo?”

Chloe chuckled a little. Embarrassingly enough, it wasn’t really the first time something like that had happened to her but normally, she caught on to it way faster. She was used to people flirting with her in coffee shops, in lines at the grocery store, everywhere really. The thing is, she was so in love with Beca that the possibility of being with someone else never entered her mind so people flirting with her just went right past her head. 

“You guys knew about this?” Chloe said with her eyebrows knit together. 

Emily shook her head. “I mean, we knew something was up. And we definitely knew Chicago was flirting with you but we didn’t really understand why you didn’t shoot him down the first day we got to Spain. We didn’t really want to meddle in your affairs.”

“Fair enough,” Chloe said. Last time Fat Amy tried to fix an argument between Chloe and Beca, the smaller girl had ended up in a bear trap. 

Emily was looking at her like she didn’t know if she had been any help and the redhead opened her arms so they could hug. The girl surged forward, resting her head on Chloe’s shoulder and the former captain kissed the top of her head. 

“Thanks, Legacy. You really helped me.”

“You’re welcome, Chlo.” There was a moment of silence before Emily pulled away to look her in her eyes. “You guys are going to be okay, right?”

“Of course we are, honey. We’re us,” she said teasingly. 

There were Beca and Chloe. Nothing could keep them apart for too long. They worked together in a way that the redhead never experienced with anybody else before and she wasn’t interested in finding out if there were any other options. 

She wanted Beca.

“When did you get so wise?” Chloe said with a smile and Emily looked proud of herself.

“I had good teachers.”

Chloe chuckled and ruffled her hair a little bit. “Well, you’re not allowed to become wiser than us. I still need you to need us.” 

Emily let out a laugh and nodded before going back to work. 

It was only when Chloe and Beca were both in bed after a successful show that they had a chance to talk without chaos surrounding them. Beca sighed in relief when her back hit the mattress and Chloe turned on her side to look at her girlfriend. 

“I’m sorry,” she said and Beca looked at her strangely. 

“What for?”

“I hadn’t noticed Chicago was flirting with me.”

The realization dawned on Beca’s face and she turned so they could talk face to face. It was quiet in the hotel since it was so late and the moon was illuminating the room through a crack in the curtains. 

“I figured.”

“It’s still not an excuse, though. I should have noticed and shot him down right from the start.”

Beca bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you finally noticed.” 

“I love you, Becs. Only you.”

“I love you too,” Beca breathed out and Chloe could hear all the emotions in her voice. She pulled her girlfriend closer by the waist and sighed in relief when Beca wrapped her arm around Chloe’s waist. 

“I’m sorry I ever made you doubt that.”

“I knew you still loved me, I just… got insecure, I guess. I just see the effect you have on people and I can’t believe you chose me sometimes.”

Chloe tucked Beca’s hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek. “But you should see the effect _you_ have on me. I’m in love with you, baby. Since the first day I met you, I was yours.”

Beca finally smiled and turned her head so she could kiss Chloe’s palm. They heard a knock on the door and they looked at each other in confusion. It couldn’t be Chicago because Chloe had made sure to pull him out of the crowd earlier and make it clear she was very much committed to her girlfriend and she wasn’t interested in him. For someone that was in the Army, he got pretty scared of the glare Chloe had the power to have when she wanted.

Beca was the one that got up and Chloe sat up on the bed to see who it was. The smaller of the two opened the door to reveal an anxious looking Emily, all ready for bed. 

“Hey, I couldn’t fall asleep.”

Chloe instantly smiled and Beca stepped to the side so Emily could enter without asking any more questions. Chloe moved to the middle of the bed so the two brunettes could get on each side of her and she sighed happily when they found the perfect position. 

“You’re okay now, right?” Emily said in the quiet of the night. 

Beca’s arm around her squeezed tighter and Chloe felt a kiss on her shoulder.

“Yeah. We’re perfect,” Chloe whispered back and the three of them fell asleep together in seconds. 

**III.**

Beca was aware her life was different than the norm. She was aware that not everyone had 9 girls that they considered her sisters and if they did, Beca doubted they were as messy as her fellow Bellas. So she was aware her life could get slightly weird sometimes.

But she wasn’t ready for her life to get _my-friends-just-got-kidnapped_ weird.

They were in France and Beca had just gotten told that she _alone_ had been chosen by DJ Khaled to perform as his first act when Amy informed her that they had to rescue the Bellas from her dad’s yacht. She didn’t even have time to _not_ tell the girls about what Theo just told her on purpose. 

She was trying to keep her cool but the thought of the girls out there made her heartbeat irregular. Everyone she loved the most was on that boat. Emily was on that boat. _Chloe_ was on that boat. The thought of losing them petrified her but she kept rowing because if she didn’t make it in time, she would never forgive herself. 

Chloe was everything to her. After all their time together, she was still the very thing that grounded Beca. She made her feel okay to feel whatever she was feeling and always encouraged her to be the best her she could be. Even though Beca had said no to DJ Khaled, she was pretty sure Chloe would be against that decision.

Chloe was the thing that made her feel alive and she would die before she let Chloe down. 

She quickly made her way on the first floor of the boat and she almost burst into tears of joy when she saw that all the girls were okay. They had made it in time. Now, the only thing she had to do was make sure they created a long enough distraction to save everyone. 

Chloe and Emily were next to each other and from behind, she could see they were holding hands. Emily’s shoulders were shaking but Chloe’s seemed steady, like she was trying her hardest to stay brave for the girl next to her. The redhead was rubbing circles on the back of Emily’s hand with her thumb, the same thing she did with Beca all the time when she was nervous. 

God, she loved these girls. She hoped everything was going to be okay. It was time to start her plan before it was too late; they only had 10 minutes left. She took a deep breath and moved from behind Chloe so she could be seen. 

“Guys, you know what we should do?” 

Everyone turned to her with wide eyes. Chloe and Emily seemed the most confused out of everyone but also the most worried. Now that she was facing them, she could see the fear in the youngest Bellas’ eyes and she couldn’t imagine how she felt, how scary it must be for her. 

The fear in Chloe’s eyes was slightly different. It was like she was scared for the people surrounding her, not herself. For the girl she was holding hands with, her best friend, her sisters but also because suddenly the love of her life was also on the boat. Beca could have been safe but she wasn’t anymore now that she came here and it only made Chloe more scared. 

“Where did you come from?” a man with an Australian accent asked who she guessed was Amy’s dad. Emily turned to look at him as he talked but Chloe’s eyes stayed on her, like she couldn’t believe Beca was really there.

Beca wanted so desperately to drop the act so she could explain everything for Chloe but she couldn’t and she’d have to rely on communicating with her eyes. She hoped that 5 years (6 if you counted the one where they weren’t dating) was enough for them to understand each other that way. 

“What?”  
  


“You weren’t here before.”

She tucked a strand of her hair innocently behind her ear and tried to talk in the sweetest voice she had. 

“I’ve been here the whole time, I’m just… small.” Everyone looked at each other and she made eye contact with Chloe before getting to her feet. “If we only have 10 minutes left, I say we spend it doing something we love. Let’s go out like Bellas and sing one more song.”

All the Bellas looked at her like she was growing a second head and they all started talking at the same time, saying how bad of an idea this was. Even Chloe was looking at her like she was crazy and Beca swallowed the urge to break character. 

“I think we should sing one more song, though!” she quickly said and she saw the moment it clicked in Chloe’s eyes. Except, nobody got it but her so everyone murmured their disagreements some more. “Guys, I just wanna sing so bad!” she cut them off again. 

Finally all the Bellas shut up and Amy’s dad allowed them to sing before warning them they had 9 minutes left. She gathered all the Bellas up and dropped the innocent voice she had. 

“You guys are terrible at reading signals!” she said and then quickly put a hand on Chloe and Emily’s arms. “Are you okay?”

They both nodded quickly but they didn’t have time to catch up more than that so she started moving around the furniture so they had space to do the choreography for Toxic. It was a song that they planned to sing on the USO tour but they didn’t get a chance to use it after all. 

Beca was glad the Bellas all instinctevely chose this one because it was a song that featured a lot of Chloe’s voice and if her plan was going to fail, she wanted to make sure the voice of her girlfriend was the last thing she had on her mind. Chloe’s singing was something that was a constant in Beca’s life. From the first moment she met her, she never knew the redhead to be silent. 

She filled silences with singing and surprisingly, Beca had never been bothered by it. It actually comforted her to come home and the first thing she heard was Chloe singing. She didn’t mind waking up too early in the morning because the redhead couldn’t help but sing in the shower. She didn’t mind when her girlfriend would snatch the headphones off her head and drag her to the very small space they had to dance in the apartment as Chloe sang a cheesy love song. She loved her voice and she tried to ignore the thought in her head that told her it could be the last time she ever heard it. 

She looked at Chloe during the performance and the girl nodded at her in understanding. She seemed to finally understand her plan even though they hadn’t talked about it and Beca was thankful. She tried to tell her how much she loved her with her eyes while still singing the song and it seemed to work because she got the same feeling back from Chloe’s eye contact. 

Then she moved so she could get that same moment with Emily. The girl seemed focused on the song and not the fact that they were still very much kidnapped which reassured Beca. The legacy looked up at her and there was a tremble on her lips and Beca shook her head gently at her while singing her solo. She tried to make Emily understand what she was thinking. 

_“I’m gonna save you. There's no way I'm letting you die. I’m gonna die protecting you if I have to.”_

Fat Amy came through the ceiling and Beca instantly dove on Chloe and Emily, pushing them towards the back of the boat so they could jump. Chloe climbed on the railing and held Emily’s hand tightly. Beca was about to go back for Amy when she heard her name being called. 

“I’m not leaving without you!” Chloe shouted and she had officially lost the strength to put on a brave face for the younger Bella. Emily had the same scared expression on her face. 

“I’m right behind you guys!”

Emily didn’t like that. “No! Jump with us!”

Amy was still going crazy in the background and Beca knew they only had a couple of seconds left. 

“Just go!” she shouted and she ran back to Amy. As soon as they made it to the railing, they felt the warmth of a fire behind them but they didn’t look back. They jumped holding hands and suddenly Beca was submerged into dark cold water. 

She swam to the surface and gasped when she could finally breathe again, water getting into her mouth. She coughed a few times as she tried her hardest to keep her head above water.

“Beca!”

“Beca!”

“Chloe! Emily!”

She heard a faint call and looked to her right where she could barely recognize everyone’s head barely out of the surface. Everyone was shouting around them and there was a helicopter in the air as she swam towards the girls she was looking for. The boat was on fire next to them and Beca could only replay the same thing in her mind:

_Chloe and Emily are okay. Everyone’s okay._

They didn’t let go of each other until they were finally safe and sound on the patio of a restaurant and the sun was coming up. The three of them were bundled under their blankets, holding each other. Everyone seemed a little shocked, but happy they were okay.

At one point, after announcing to the whole group that she had been chosen by DJ Khaled, Chloe fell asleep with her head on her shoulder. Beca relished in the moment, appreciating every little thing about Chloe a thousand times more now. She smelled her hair and even though it smelled like ocean water, there was a hint of that _Chloe_ smell that reminded Beca so much of home. 

She pressed her lips to the top of her head and murmured “ _I love you_ ” quiet enough to not wake her up but loud enough to know that it came out of her lips, to hear herself say it. Because she was still alive, they all were. 

Emily came back from the bathroom, rubbing her eyes sleepily and sat next to Beca. A couple of the Bellas were chatting, some were sleeping and some were on the phone with their parents. 

“Did you call your mom?” Beca whispered and Emily nodded. 

“She’s just glad I’m okay.”

“You can say that twice,” Beca breathed out. 

Chloe was out like a light on her shoulder and Beca knew she was so tired, nothing could wake her up now. They had all had a very long night but Beca didn’t want to let herself sleep. She wanted to make sure the girls were okay and keep an eye on them. She was pretty sure she was going to have trouble letting Chloe out of her sight after this. 

“You should sleep,” Emily proposed like she knew what she was thinking about.   
  
“Nah,” Beca said. “You should, though.”

Emily shook her head, “Can’t.” 

Beca reached over to take Emily’s hand in hers. She intertwined their fingers and rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb _Chloe_ style. It seemed to be the right thing to do because Emily released a breath she had been holding when the former captain did so. 

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Talk about it? Where did Beca Mitchell go and what have you done with her?” the senior teased and Beca rolled her eyes. 

“Well Chloe’s asleep right now so I’m trying to take over. Will you let me?” 

“I guess you’ll do okay,” Emily said with a smile on her face that Beca reciprocated. 

“So how did it happen?”

The current Bella captain took a breath. “Well we were at this restaurant and I was actually wondering where you were because your conversation with Theo was taking longer than we thought it would-- now I understand, though. Super happy for you. And super proud too like--”

“Kid.”

“Right. Anyways, then Chloe made this really weird emotional speech where she was basically telling us she loved us and she was inside of us? I’m not even sure I really understood.” 

Beca looked to the girl on her right shoulder and chuckled a little, giving her another kiss in her hair. 

“Then this guy came over and he said his name was Henri and that Chicago sent him to go to the USO reception. Chloe asked about you and Fat Amy but he said you guys were already there so we just kind of… rolled with it?”

“Great idea,” Beca said sarcastically and Emily winced. 

“Yeah, not our brightest moment.”

“I mean, I would’ve texted Chloe if I was waiting for you guys some place.”

“I know, Bec. We should have thought something was wrong before we were on a freaking boat.”

“Language,” Beca said, frowning. She was aware she cursed quite often but she wouldn't allow Legacy to even say a variation of a curse word. Nope, no way. She eased up a little because she could see Emily was still pretty emotionally unstable over what happened. “Are you okay, though?”

“I think so. It was really scary and I for sure thought I was about to die for a moment but I think I’m finally calm now.”

“You’re safe,” Beca said in a soft voice that she hoped was comforting. “You’re okay.”

“Are you mad at us?”

“Mad? Of course I’m not mad,” Beca said and she squeezed Emily’s hand to emphasize her words. “I was scared shitless, dude. I’m so glad you guys are okay.” 

“Thanks for coming to save us.”

“I know that I don’t say it enough but um I love you guys, you know? I mean, all the girls but I just-- I kept thinking about you and Chlo. I would have done anything to protect you guys.”

Emily seemed touched at the words and her eyes watered a little. Careful not to shake Beca too much and wake up Chloe, she got closer so their sides could touch and Beca didn’t even mind.

“I love you too. If it weren’t for Chloe and my hope that you’d somehow come help us, I probably would have been a lot more scared.”

“What are moms for, right?” Beca said as a joke but there was a hint of truth behind it. Oh well, if she had to be a mom to a 21 year old at 24, she was going to embrace it. “But seriously, don’t talk to strangers ever again. And especially don’t follow them into a van, what the fuck?”

Emily pouted and pointed at the sleeping girl on her shoulder. “I was just following my other mom!” she shouted in a whisper. 

“How could you trust Chloe on this? It took her ages to figure out Cincinnati was flirting with her, she has no social clues.”

“Chicago.”

“Kid, I don’t care. Just don’t get into strange black vans ever again.”

“Got it.” 

Emily rested her head on her free shoulder and Beca took a deep breath. She looked at Fat Amy who was sleeping with drool coming out of her mouth, Lilly (or Ester now?) talking with Aubrey and Flo, Cynthia-Rose on the phone with her girlfriend and Jessica and Ashley were sleeping, their heads leaning on each other.

“And we need to see each other more often,” Beca added when she thought about it. 

Emily wrapped an arm around her waist in response, Chloe shifted in her sleep to be more comfortable and Beca finally let herself close her eyes to get some rest. 

**IIII.**

Chloe was in the middle seat on the plane ride back to New York. She had Beca on her left, currently resting her head against the window with her mouth slightly opened as she slept and Emily on her right, who was working on some school work on the tiny table.

24 hours ago, she had been kidnapped. Just the thought of it made her palms sweat again but the comforting hand that Beca had on her thigh even though she was dead asleep grounded her. Her girlfriend had barely let her go to the bathroom without her since it happened but she didn’t blame her, she felt the exact same way. She never wanted to take a moment with Beca granted again.

Beca had come to save them. Well she was aware Fat Amy had done a lot of the work too but it was like the small girl was the only thing Chloe could focus on right now. She could still feel Beca’s arms reaching to hold her as she tried to stay above the surface, gasping for air.

_“You’re okay. Holy fuck, you’re okay. We’re okay. You’re okay,”_ Beca had repeated with her forehead pressed on Chloe’s as she finally let herself cry, releasing all the emotions she had been holding for Emily.

She let those words echo in her mind to calm her down and put her hand on top of Beca’s without waking her up. She didn’t want to know how close they came to dying, she just cared about the fact that they were still alive. 

And Beca had saved her. 

Her Beca. She knew the younger girl didn’t believe her when she said it, but she meant it when she said she started falling for her on the day of the activities fair. She still remembered Beca’s red tank top, the dark eyeliner and the bright sarcastic smile she had looked at Chloe with. Something had shifted the second her eyes fell on her. 

She knew she had to do anything possible to get closer to her and she couldn’t take no for an answer when the girl told her she couldn’t sing. She had a feeling that that young freshman was going to play an important role in her life and she couldn’t have been more right. 

Soon after the shower incident (which she apologized for, by the way), Chloe figured out a way to get through to Beca. It started by running into each other at the quad. Then it evolved into walking each other to class or back from class that quickly turned into “ _you want to go grab a coffee?_ ” That changed into hanging out at Beca’s dorm room when Kimmy-Jin wasn’t there, accidentally falling asleep in the same bed. Waking up cuddling and pretending that didn’t happen. 

The feelings getting stronger each passing day and seeing Jesse circle around her like an eagle. Aubrey despising Beca even more for hurting Chloe indirectly. It wasn’t her fault, though. Really, she didn’t blame her. 

Then, it was seeing the person she was in love with kiss Jesse instead of her at the ICCAs. It was seeing them holding hands and him joining some Bellas outing so Chloe was forced to see them act like a couple during the summer. Before she knew it, she started pulling away and then Beca was suddenly kissing her. 

The whole world suddenly got brighter at that moment. The world became about the feeling Chloe got in her stomach when she had her lips on Beca’s. The way it felt to have her hands on her, the way it felt to hold her hand and hear her laugh as they walked on campus together. 

One month passed, two months, three months and then suddenly they had been together for three years. 

Three years worth of cuddles, kisses, fights, arguments, cooking, singing and then somehow adopting a 19 year old kid. Taking Emily under their wing who started to become more and more like a combination of their two personalities as time flew by. Waking up in her bed with Beca on one side and Emily on the other. 

2 more years and the world was scarier because she didn’t have the comfort of the Bellas house anymore. It was scarier but it was okay, because Beca was still by her side, holding her hand. They still woke up in the same bed and they still came home to each other after a day of work. How could the world be terrifying when something as beautiful as Beca existed? 

Chloe looked at the back of Aubrey’s head who was sitting in diagonal of her, next to Flo in the middle row. She remembered clear as day being wine drunk on the floor of the Bellas house near the end of the year. She remembered looking at her best friend in the eyes and saying: 

_“She’s my soulmate. I don’t know if I’m hers but I know she’s mine.”_

She had said it thousands of times before; she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Beca. It was as simple as that. 

She looked at Beca who’s headphones were kind of crooked from her position but the music was still playing over her eyes because Chloe could hear it. She looked at Emily who was bent over her textbook, highlighting some stuff every once in a while. 

She took out her earphones and nudged Emily who jumped a little since she was so concentrated.   
  
“What’s up?” she said, taking off her left earphone. Chloe made sure Beca was still asleep and couldn’t hear what they were saying before she spoke. 

“Can I run something by you?”

“Of course.” 

“Promise me you’re not gonna react in any way until I’m done talking.”

Emily looked at her weirdly but nodded. 

“So, Becs and I have always talked about how we didn’t necessarily need “legal documents” to prove we were committed to one another. Even when gay marriage was legalized, we talked about whether we saw ourselves doing it in the future and we both didn’t really know. Then, life kind of took us by the storm and we kind of forgot about it. We’ve been together for so long it’s like we’re already married. I mean, you guys call us aca-moms for God’s sake,” she said in a chuckle and she could feel Emily’s excitement buzzing more and more at every word. 

“But I guess… I almost died 24 hours ago and now all I can think about is how much I love Beca and how I want the world to know. I want that cheesy ceremony in front of our families and friends that’ll make Beca so freaking nervous but she’ll do it because she loves me just as much as I love her. I want that ring on my finger that tells every stranger on the street that I’m in love with someone. I want that piece of paper that says that I’m hers and that she’s mine.” 

Emily pinched her lips together to keep herself from squealing and she wanted until Chloe gave her the signal that she was done to talk. 

“I can’t-- I mean, wow. Oh my stars, I’m just-- I can’t believe you--” Emily said in a quiet voice to not wake up Beca who had started to snore a little at that point. The legacy took a few breaths to calm down. “I can’t believe you’re telling me this while Beca is asleep and I can’t freak out properly.” 

Chloe chuckled. She could feel her heartbeat racing and the blood pumping in her veins but she was also strangely calm. She was so sure about this that she didn’t even have to be nervous about it. 

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Emily finished by saying.

“Thanks,” Chloe said, sinking her teeth into her lower lip with a smile. 

“How are you going to do it?” 

Chloe shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Emily put her fingers on her chin to think and she looked at Beca a little. “Well Beca’s not a big fan of people so don’t do it in front of a large crowd, she’ll hate it.”

“That’s true.”

“She can be romantic for you but she’s also not that big of a romantic for _herself_ so I don’t think you necessarily need to do it over candlelight and dinner.”

Chloe smiled, letting Emily think out loud. 

“I think it’s just incredible what you’re doing. You said it yourself, you already act like you’re married. So don’t make it into a big deal.”

“No?”

“No. Beca likes the simple things in life. She’s not complicated. She likes her coffee black, she likes dressing up in sweatpants and a tank top, she likes to order the same thing at her favorite restaurant every time. Making it into a big deal would freak her out.”

Chloe had an amused smile on her face. “Woah, Em. Seems like you should be the one asking her to marry you.”

Emily blushed and shook her head. “Stop it. I just… admired her a lot when I was younger and I observed her… which I realize makes me sound like a creep so I’ll shut up.”

“I think it’s adorable,” Chloe said, chuckling lightly. “But I mean, you’re right. I know Beca and turning the wedding into a big thing wouldn’t even be what we’re about anyways. I want a simple wedding. All I care about is that she’s standing at the altar with me, my family is there and the Bellas are singing to my first dance.” 

“Oh em aca-gee, I would love nothing more.”

Chloe giggled and tugged on Emily’s ear lightly who squirmed a little.

“You need to tell me as soon as you do it.”

“Of course, sweetie.”

Emily smiled and went back to her work. Chloe put back her earphones and started thinking about her plan. The senior was right, Beca did like simple and effective things. She liked when someone was straight to the point and didn’t play games with her. 

She looked to her left, admiring the side profile of her sleeping girlfriend. She honestly didn't understand why she hadn’t proposed yet. She was 27, she knew what she wanted at that point. What she wanted was to marry Beca and have a family with her. So, why delay things when she could get started now?

She shook Beca's shoulder a little who took a while to stir awake. Eventually, Beca opened her eyes only to close them when she noticed the lights were on and it was too bright for her. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked at Chloe, yawning without bothering to cover her mouth. She took her headphones off and Chloe did the same.

“Are we there?” she said, with her mouth still open mid-yawn and she seemed to realize her mouth tasted bad because she took a sip of the orange juice Chloe had on her tray. 

“No, not yet. I just wanted to talk to you.”

Beca chuckled a little, still struggling to wake up. Chloe was pretty much the only one who could wake her up and stay alive. Beca could be scary in the mornings. 

“What could possibly be so important that you couldn’t wait for till I woke up on my own, Beale?” she asked teasingly.

Chloe released a breath and took Beca’s hand, bringing it to her lips. She kissed it a few times before talking. 

“I was thinking about yesterday.”

The smaller girl turned serious in seconds, moving her hand from Chloe’s grasp to cup her cheek. 

“Shit, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I was just thinking…”

“Yeah?”

“I love you so much. You know that right?”

Beca smiled softly. “I do. I love you so much too.”

“When I was on that boat, I tried so hard to stay strong for Em. But all I could think about was you. How much I loved you and I would have kissed you longer if I had known it could have been the last time. I was also thankful that you weren’t there because that meant you wouldn’t die, that the world wouldn’t lose you. But then, you appeared out of nowhere and I thought: Shit, I’m about to die and so is Beca. And that was worse, you know? I didn’t want our story to be over so soon.”

Beca was looking at her deeply, probably wondering where she was going with this. Chloe figured that was the right time to do it. She looked straight into steel blue eyes, the ones that still looked at her the same way they did over 5 years ago. 

“I love you, Becs. I want to marry you.”

Beca’s hand fell on Chloe’s lap in shock and she raised her eyebrows high in the air. Chloe didn’t even have time to be nervous over that reaction because a smile quickly appeared on her face. 

“Chloe Beale, did you just propose to me on a plane without even a ring?”

The redhead chuckled and looked around at the people surrounding them who were completely oblivious to what their conversation was about. Except for the Bellas, no one knew who they were and they didn’t care. Chloe couldn’t imagine a world without knowing who Beca Mitchell was. She almost felt bad for them.

“Yeah. I just proposed to you,” she breathed out with a smile on her face. “So what do you say?”

Beca bit her lip and Chloe saw the tear on the verge of falling from her right eye.   
  
“I say hell yeah. Let’s get married.” 

Chloe leaned forward and Beca met her halfway. She put a hand on the back of her neck, holding her tightly against her lips. She took Beca’s lip between her own and kissed her with everything in her. She could feel Beca’s body vibrating as they kissed and she was pretty sure the smaller girl could feel the same thing coming from her.

“You guys know this isn't your apartment, right?” Emily said, making them pull away after a few seconds and the girl looked at them with slight disgust. The same kind of way you look at your parents when they kiss in front of you. You’re happy for them but you also wish they wouldn’t do that stuff in front of you. 

Chloe took Beca’s hand in hers and looked at Emily, a permanent grin on her face. “Hey Em, remember when you asked me to tell you when I proposed to Beca?” 

It took Emily about 5 seconds before she realized what that meant and she squealed loudly. A couple of passengers turned around at the noise but Emily ignored them, reaching across the seats so she could hug Chloe and Beca at the same time. 

“Oh my stars!” She said with her head between her former captains and Chloe side-glanced to see Beca hugging the youngest Bella the best she could with their weird position. She looked at Chloe and they shared a smile over Emily’s shoulders. She didn’t remember the last time she felt this much joy in her heart. 

Actually, she could. 

It was yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Because everyday she woke up next to Beca, Chloe rediscovered joy all over again. 

“That means you’ll legally be my moms now!”

“Not how that works, kid.”

**V.**

“I’m not gonna cry. I won’t! I’m not crying, I’m totally not.”

Beca chuckled and glanced to her right where Chloe was checking her makeup with her phone. They hadn’t even made it out of her dad’s driveway that her fiancée was close to tears. 

Emily was graduating today. They couldn’t believe how fast time had passed. They were back in Atlanta for the first time in a while and to not have to take a flight the day of and risk being late, they flew in from New York last night and spent the night at her dad’s place. 

She had wanted to get a hotel but Chloe was the one that convinced her that her dad would really appreciate it. Besides, it was the first time that they’d see each other since Chloe and her got engaged and he had been pestering her to come visit since she called him on the phone to awkwardly tell him the news.

Soon after they landed in New York from France, they had gone looking for rings and it’s only when they both found one that they announced it to the Bellas over a skype call. Emily had been ecstatic to tell the rest of the gang she had been the first to know which had led to all the Bellas talking over one another angrily and a lot of insults from Amy to Emily which led Beca to abruptly end the call in panic. 

When Chloe called them back a second later, they started fighting on who was going to be maid of honor instead. 

But for the first time again, most of the Bellas were going to reunite again to assist Emily’s graduation. The only people who couldn’t make it were Fat Amy and Stacie. Amy because she was somewhere in the Netherlands with one of her boyfriends, busy spending some of the money she had suddenly gotten and Stacie because it was no surprise that a newborn baby was a lot of work and she didn’t feel comfortable doing something like that yet. 

They promise they’d facetime them during the ceremony, though. Stacie had enthusiastically said yes and Amy had passed.

Chloe waved at her dad through the window, making her ring glint in the sun and finally, they were on their way to Barden University. 

“I can’t believe it,” Chloe said, clearly referring to Emily’s graduation. 

“Aca-believe it,” Beca said and then she sighed at herself. “Wow, I did not sleep enough last night.”

Chloe chuckled and looked out the window as she spoke. “It’s weird coming back here, right?”

“Yeah. But at the same time, it kinda feels like nothing has changed.” 

Everything was familiar. The roads, the signs, even the redhead next to her was the same. The only thing that was different was they were both proudly displaying rings on their left hands now. 

“Well, I’m engaged to the girl that’s opening DJ Khaled’s next tour. I think that’s pretty cool. I’m about to be famous by association.” 

“Please. I’m not going to be famous.”

“We both know that’s not true, babe.”

Chloe was right, as always. DJ Khaled had put an announcement on Instagram about Beca a few weeks ago and Beca had gained a few thousand followers like it was nothing instantly. Everyone was wondering who she was and even articles were coming out titled “ _Who is Beca Mitchell?_ ” where they mostly talked about her acapella accomplishments. She was probably going to be famous but that thought scared the shit out of her and she preferred to ignore it until it really happened. 

“The only part of the sentence you said that I’m interested in is the fact that we’re engaged.”

“Cute,” Chloe said and Beca could see her smile out of the corner of her eyes. 

Her dad obviously lived close to campus so it wasn’t long until they pulled into the familiar campus. Chloe’s mouth was slightly opened as she took all of it in as she looked out the window. There were a lot of people coming from all over to see their kids and friends graduate and the parking lot was full. 

“I spent 7 years of my life here,” Chloe said, mostly to herself but Beca answered anyway. 

“Worth it in my opinion,” she said and winked when her fiancée looked at her. They got out of the car and she groaned instantly at the heat. 

She was wearing short shorts with a white tank top but she still immediately put her hair up so her neck could breathe a little. Chloe looked as beautiful as always, with a floral dress and her hair curled just the way Beca liked it. 

“You ready?” she asked, holding out her hand and Chloe took it instantly. 

“God, no.”

“Well, you don’t really have a choice,” Beca teased and they started walking to where the graduation was held.

“That's the worst part, isn’t it?”

“Everyone has to graduate one day, babe. Emily too.”

“I just-- I still remember how nervous she was during her audition, you know?” Beca nodded even though she hadn’t even been there. Sometimes, she really regretted that. “Poor girl couldn’t even keep her eyes open while she sang.”

“She grew a lot with us,” Beca said and then smirked. “Maybe too much. That girl has seen things no one should ever see.”

“Are you talking about Fat Amy’s vagina?”

"Definitely."

“I mean, the whole world saw it but I just feel bad she saw it another time in person after that, huh?”

“Yeah, that really didn’t help make Amy like her more.”

They shared a laugh and then Chloe got serious again. 

“She’s going to be okay, right?” 

“Of course is.”

“I just mean,” Chloe sighed. “Do you think she’s as nervous as we were? Did we prepare her enough for what’s about to come? What if we scared her when we told her how boring life is when you’re an adult?” 

Beca squeezed her hand to signal her to breathe. 

“Hey, she’s a grown woman now. She’s probably nervous yeah but it’d be weird if she wasn’t. Graduation is a big deal. Besides, we didn’t tell her how boring adult life is, we’re just… realistic.”

Chloe nodded a few times, letting Beca’s words calm her down. “I just feel bad we’re going to be so far away from her. New York is closer than LA.” 

“She said she was thinking about moving to LA sometimes in the future too.”

“You really think that’s going to happen?”

Beca nodded confidently. She had trust in Emily’s talent. “I already started talking to Theo about Emily. She’s an amazing songwriter and singer and if she works hard enough, she can potentially make it too.”

Chloe had a dreamy smile on her face, probably thinking about what their life was going to be in Los Angeles. Beca was especially excited about leaving that shoebox of an apartment and finally living alone with Chloe. The record label was actually providing her with a place for the first few months before they found their own so it was pretty perfect. Chloe was probably more excited about the hot temperature and the beaches.

“It’d be totally awesome if you could work with Emily.”

“It really would,” Beca said. She still remembered how fun it had been to work together at Residual Heat and record Flashlight together. 

They finally joined the crowd of people that were waiting on chairs on the lawn, the first few rows filled with students in green gowns. She wondered for a brief second how the hell they were going to find the Bellas until a loud voice called them out. 

“Bloe! We’re here!”

It had surprisingly been Lilly (Ester?) that had called them over and Chloe and Beca shared a look before walking to the saved seats the Bellas had for them. They quickly hugged everyone hello and Beca settled on the last seat of the row and Chloe sat down between her and Aubrey. 

“Let me see it,” Aubrey demanded in her captain voice and while Beca had been confused, Chloe instantly got it and held up her left hand. The blonde let out a happy noise and inspected the ring with a close eye. 

“Good choice, Mitchell.”

“Well technically, she proposed to me and we chose the rings together but thanks.” 

Aubrey rolled her eyes and took Beca’s hand to look at the ring too. She looked at her fiancée and the girl shot her a smile that she had no choice but mirror. 

“If you hurt her, I swear to God--”

“I won’t Aubrey,” Beca said solemnly. “I promise you, I won’t.”

Chloe was stuck in the middle and Aubrey was still holding onto Beca's hand so she just took their wrists and shook them a little to diffuse the tension and then the school director got up on stage and everyone clapped. 

The guy had a 20 minute long speech and then there was the valedictorian speech and then someone else got on stage and long story short, Beca felt like she was about to die from boredom and how fucking hot it was here. 

She cringed when she changed position for the 5th time in less than 3 minutes and she felt her thighs stick to the chair from the sweat. She groaned and tried to find a good position but she swore these chairs were not made to be sat on. Chloe looked at her, slightly annoyed. 

“Are you okay?”

“Dude, I’m dying. It's so hot. And holy shit, this is _so_ boring? Why did I not remember it being that long?” 

“Because we snuck out during the valedictorian speech to go make out and we only came back in time for the B’s.”

Beca perked up and smiled at the memory. “Oh yeah, that was nice. Can we go do that again?” 

“Shhh,” the parents in front of her turned around rudely and Beca stuck her tongue out as soon as they faced forward again. 

“No,” Chloe said and Beca groaned again. “They’re almost at the J’s, babe.” 

“They’re only at the C’s!”

Chloe glared at her to tell her to officially shut up now and Beca’s shoulders slumped in defeat. She loved Emily but she didn’t know if she loved her this much. Saving them from a yacht when they got kidnapped didn't test her limit of love that much.

All of that disappeared when they finally announced “Emily Junk” to come grab her diploma and the 9 girls all got to their feet in seconds, clapping loudly. Even Stacie was on Aubrey’s phone, excited to be a part of it. While most of the other kids had gotten a polite applause, the current captain of the Barden Bellas was getting a full on standing ovation. 

“What an unfortunate last name,” Aubrey muttered to herself as all the Bellas cheered for their legacy. 

“Let’s go, kid!”

“We love you, sweetie!”

They both yelled at the same time like embarrassing parents and even though they were pretty far away, they could see the red on Emily’s cheeks at all the attention they were attracting. Still, she waved at them and got off the stage and suddenly she was a college graduate. 

Chloe had given up on not crying and tears streamed down as her face as Beca felt a knot in her throat. Their little protégée was not so little anymore. The girl whom she helped with her first love, her first heartbreak, her nightmares at night during her freshman year of college had just graduated. Beca couldn’t believe it.

Beca sat down and the Bellas followed suit. She took her fiancée’s hand with one hand and wiped the tears on her cheeks with the other. 

“You have to stop this. When you cry, I cry.” 

“She’s a college graduate,” the redhead said, kind of an awe. Beca nodded softly, reaching over to kiss her wet cheek. 

“She’s not our little kid anymore,” she teased.

“You guys are aware she’s not really your kid, right?” Aubrey joined their conversation and Chloe pouted. 

“Feels like she is sometimes. God, I feel so old.”

“She’ll be okay. We taught her well. Look what she did with the Bellas, she did great.”

“You’re right,” Chloe said like she was trying to convince herself and then her face softened and she looked deeply into Beca’s eyes. Sometimes, Beca’s breath still hitched when she looked at those hypnotizing blue eyes. She swore she could get lost in them forever. “We’re gonna have one of those one day, right?”

Beca smiled. “A real kid who’s gonna graduate college and make us feel even older? Of course.”

Chloe seemed pleased with the answer and attached her lips to Beca’s. Beca kissed back instantly and she could almost see it; her at another graduation, with Chloe still next to her and they’re watching their child graduate. 

They’re not there yet, though and Beca would rather focus on Emily’s graduation for the time being. It was emotional enough for the former Bella captain. 

Another eternity later, all the students had graduated and it was finally time to join Emily. As soon as the girl saw the old Bellas walk to her, she excused herself from her friend group and they all collided together for a group hug. Emily was in the middle and she looked happier than Beca had ever seen her. She was proud of the girl that was in front of her eyes and she didn’t even feel the tear on her cheek until Flo pointed it out. 

“Aca-mom, you’re crying.”

Everyone looked at her and she wiped the tear instantly under all their amused smiles. 

“Shut up, I’m not.”

Chloe giggled and kissed her cheek clumsily before hugging Emily properly this time. Beca could hear what she was saying to the legacy.

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Chloe.”

“You’re going to accomplish so much,” she said before kissing her temple. She cupped Emily’s red cheeks and inspected her face.

“You put on sunscreen, right?”

“Yes, mom.” Chloe rolled her eyes and moved to the side so Beca could have her moment with her. 

She stood on her tiptoes and rested her chin on the girl’s shoulders. It felt like yesterday that Emily was the one hugging her while she was wearing that green gown. Now, it was the other way around and Beca couldn't believe how fast time flew. 

“You did good, kid.”

“Yeah?”

“We’re all so proud,” she said, pulling away and she felt another tear come out her eyes but she didn’t care anymore. It’s not like Chloe hadn’t been crying for the past 10 minutes anyway.

“We’re going to keep seeing each other, right?” Emily said, looking at Chloe and Beca anxiously. 

“Totes,” Chloe answered instantly. “We’re going to see each other at the wedding and then we’ll figure out how to see each other once Beca and I get settled in LA.”

Emily looked at Beca and she nodded in approval. 

“If you’re serious about your dream, I can try to make something work for you in LA too. If your mother approves, of course.”

Before Emily could answer, a voice talked from behind them. 

“That would be me, right?” 

Emily instantly smiled and walked between Chloe and Beca to go hug her actual mother. All the Bellas had pretty much wandered away, going to talk to random people or cause chaos as they did everywhere so the two former co-captains were the only ones left to see the exchange. 

“Hey! I’m so glad you’re here!” Emily said in her mother’s neck who chuckled while looking at the two girls behind her daughter. 

“Are you? Should I be concerned your first instinct wasn’t to go to your poor old mother? Your face is all red, sweetie. Did you even put on sunscreen?”

Beca and Chloe looked at each other with a small laugh. Emily pulled away and stood next to her mom so they could all face each other. “Sorry, the Bellas got there first. This is Beca and Chloe, you remember them from Worlds.”

Chloe extended a polite hand, “Katherine Junk, it’s always an honor to be in your presence. You pioneered the syncopated booty shake and I am _so_ jealous of your five octave vocal range.” 

Katherine smiled and turned to Beca who also shook her hand. “Yeah, I don’t know what Chloe just said but it’s nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you again, too,” Katherine chuckled and put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “I heard a lot of things about you guys. She talks about you a _lot_. I think I knew about your engagement before some of your friends. Congratulations by the way.”

“Mom!”

Chloe smiled at Emily’s embarrassment. “Thank you. You have a wonderful daughter, Mrs Junk. Beca and I were honored to take her under our wings.”

“It’s always hard to see your kid go off to college but I’m glad you guys were there for her. You guys didn’t have to do that,” the former Bella said and she seemed genuine. Like she was really grateful for all the things Chloe and her did for her but Beca didn’t really see it that way. It just happened naturally. 

She hadn’t planned to practically become a mother figure for a 19 year old kid but now that it happened, she wouldn’t change a thing. Emily was going to be a great adult who was going to do grand things and Beca liked to think her fiancée and her had an influence in that. That somehow, they had an impact on who Emily was going to be and they actually helped her grow as a person. 

“It was our pleasure, really,” Chloe said sincerely, her hand caressing Beca’s back subconsciously. “She made our last year of college even more meaningful.”

Emily had tears in her eyes at that point and Beca shot her a wink. What Chloe was saying was true, they had been completely lost during her senior year and once they found their sound again, Beca had built the entire musical arrangement for Worlds around Flashlight. It was what inspired her. 

Cynthia-Rose appeared out of nowhere, putting a hand on Beca’s shoulder. “Aca-child, you ready to party with us Bellas style to celebrate? Flo found this great bar down the street.”

Beca noticed it at the same time that Katherine did; Emily looked at _Chloe_ for approval. Beca felt bad for a quick second at the slight shock on her mother’s face but then the shock was replaced by a small smile. Like this was the moment she finally realized that Emily grew up and wasn’t her little girl anymore. That she had other people she relied on more than her now. 

Chloe didn’t even notice anything. “Sure. Becs and I will join you guys later so in the meantime, don’t accept any drinks that aren't from the Bellas,” she paused and then frowned. “Actually, don’t accept drinks from the Bellas either, just get your own drinks. And don’t touch anything, the bars here are so dirty. Wash your hands before eating anything, okay?” 

Emily nodded at everything that Chloe said and went to follow Cynthia-Rose before Beca reached across her fiancée’s body to take Emily’s wrist and stop her.

“Didn’t Chloe and I teach you any manners, kid? Say goodbye to your mother.”

The legacy’s eyes widened and she instantly apologized to her (real) mother who had been looking at the exchange with confusion on her face. They gave the two Junks some space so they could actually talk and Chloe leaned down to whisper in her ear. 

“I went mom mode in front of her actual mom, huh?”

Beca chuckled and intertwined their fingers and smiled when she felt the ring. “Oh yeah, babe. Big time.” 

“I just can’t help it. Do you think she thought it was rude?”

“It’s okay. She had a smile on her face, I don’t think she’s mad. Just confused-- which is fair.”

“The thought of the top bitch from 1981 hating me is--”

“Chlo,” Beca interrupted her. “She said she was glad we were there for Em. She doesn’t hate you.” 

Emily and Katherine joined them again and the younger girl clapped her hands. “Alright! I’m ready to go.”

“Great. Chloe and I will stop by my dad’s house and then we’ll join you guys.”

They hugged each other goodbye and when Emily walked away to join the Bellas that were waiting by the exit, Chloe and Katherine both shouted at the same time:

“Don’t forget to reapply sunscreen!” 

Beca immediately burst into laughter, the two other women quickly joined in and Emily just looked embarrassed that she was still treated like a child at her age in front of so many people. 

Even if she had just graduated, Emily was always going to be the one they wanted to protect and she was pretty sure that would never change, no matter how weird that was.

Whoever said you can’t choose family was wrong because the Bellas were definitely like a weird little family when she thought about it. Families were the people you could count on, the people you loved no matter what and you know they’d always be there for you. Families needed parents and children (plus weird sisters/aunts?) and if it was going to be Chloe and her with Emily, then Beca didn't mind. 

She actually loved it a lot.

**Author's Note:**

> There you go! For the ones that asked for a part 2, I hope that this was to your liking! If you did like it, please leave a kudos and even a comment if you're feeling extra nice, it's always appreciated!
> 
> twitter: @chloebeaie  
> tumblr: chlobeales


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